Paris ? Police searched the Riviera villa of Osama bin Laden’s half brother on Wednesday as part of a money-laundering probe, judicial sources said.

The search of the residence of Geneva-based Yeslam Binladin was part of a probe of alleged money laundering by Investigating Judge Renaud van Ruymbeke, the officials said. They spoke on customary condition they not be identified by name.

Binladin intentionally spells his name differently than his half brother, Osama, the prime suspect in the Sept. 11 terror attacks in the United States.

The Paris prosecutors office opened a money laundering investigation in December following allegations of money laundering by a division of the French Finance Ministry tracking misuse of funds.

It was not immediately known whether Wednesday’s search turned up any suspicious documents.

Binladin, one of Osama bin Laden’s 54 siblings, denied in an interview in October with Swiss television media reports alleging that his Geneva-based financial company, Sico, handled terrorist money.

At the time, Binladin said that none of the members of the family had had any contact with Osama bin Laden and that “he was condemned by the family for his acts and his convictions.”

“We are not a family of terrorists,” Binladin said.